Monetary Valuation of PM10-Related Health Risks in Beijing China: The Necessity for PM10 Pollution Indemnity

Abstract

Severe health risks caused by PM10 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm) pollution have induced inevitable economic losses and have rendered pressure on the sustainable development of society as a whole. In China, with the “Polluters Pay Principle”, polluters should pay for the pollution they have caused, but how much they should pay remains an intractable problem for policy makers. This paper integrated an epidemiological exposure-response model with economics methods, including the Amended Human Capital (AHC) approach and the Cost of Illness (COI) method, to value the economic loss of PM10-related health risks in 16 districts and also 4 functional zones in Beijing from 2008 to 2012. The results show that from 2008 to 2012 the estimated annual deaths caused by PM10 in Beijing are around 56,000, 58,000, 63,000, 61,000 and 59,000, respectively, while the economic losses related to health damage increased from around 23 to 31 billion dollars that PM10 polluters should pay for pollution victims between 2008 and 2012. It is illustrated that not only PM10 concentration but also many other social economic factors influence PM10-related health economic losses, which makes health economic losses show a time lag discrepancy compared with the decline of PM10 concentration. In conclusion, health economic loss evaluation is imperative in the pollution indemnity system establishment and should be considered for the urban planning and policy making to control the burgeoning PM10 health economic loss.

Air pollution and environmental risk factors for altered lung function among adult women of an urban slum area of Delhi: A prevalence study

“…As per literature, coarse particles (PM 10 ) consisting mainly of organic material, silicates and larger carbon aggregates, cause damage to larger airways and provoke higher inflammatory response than smaller particles[ 15 ] while deficits in the lung function are correlated with a set of pollutants that include nitrogen dioxide, acid vapor, and fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) that reach the alveoli. [ 16 ]…”

Direct and indirect health impacts of climate change on the vulnerable elderly population in East China

“…According to the Chinese disease surveillance report, mortality due to respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases and neoplasm is higher in the over 60 age group . In Beijing some severe haze events were studied, studies about the quantification of PM10 health effects can help in policy making if they are revealed (Gao et al 2015;Yin et al 2015). Dust storms have also been positively associated with excess mortality in China (Wang et al 2004).…”

“…East China is severely affected by floods throughout the history (Zhang 2012) Northwest, North, and Northeast of China -increase in droughts frequency (Yu et al 2014) PM10 induced health losses are evident in China (Zhang et al 2008) Public health risks and impacts of a tornado in Funing, East China elderly ( PM2.5 is positively related to daily mortality of people especially of older adults (Schwartz 2000) 5 % excess deaths were linked with heat waves in 66 Chinese communities, with the highest excess deaths in North East and South China Drowning, injuries, hypothermia are direct impacts of flood (Du et al 2010) In Beijing some severe haze events were studied (Gao et al 2015;Yin et al 2015).…”

Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5) in Subway Systems: Health-Based Economic Assessment

“…The economic valuation of the health effects of environmental pollution using the COI approach has been reported worldwide [23][24][25]. COI model was applied to assess the economic benefits of reducing particulate air pollution in Lebanese urban areas [23].…”

“…COI model was applied to assess the economic benefits of reducing particulate air pollution in Lebanese urban areas [23]. A monetary valuation of PM 10 -related health risks in 16 districts and 4 functional zones in Beijing (China) was performed, in which COI method was used in integration with an epidemiological exposure-response model and another economic valuation method [24]. Not many studies have evaluated the economic benefit specifically of decreased subway-PM concentrations.…”